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Major U.S. carriers taking a pass on Canada’s wireless spectrum auction:analyst

By The Canadian Press

Thu., Sept. 19, 2013

A Scotiabank analyst says big U.S. carriers are taking a pass on Canada’s wireless spectrum auction in January, preferring instead to focus on their own markets.

Analyst Jeff Fan says he has confirmation from Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile that they didn’t submit applications earlier this week to participate in bidding on radio waves needed to operate cellphone networks in Canada.

Fan says in a research note that he believes their decision was prompted by the lack of attractive returns in entering Canada’s wireless market, as well as regulatory uncertainty in Canada and potential regulatory backlash in the U.S.

Fan adds that there is still speculation about other large global carriers taking part in the auction, but says he doesn’t believe they would have the same impact on the Canadian market as the big U.S. carriers.

On Monday, Industry Canada will publish a list of participants who’ve put down a refundable deposit to participate in the Jan. 14 auction.

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